Michael Brown's Mother Throws Hat Into Political Ring

Lezley McSpadden poses for a portrait in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

(Newser)
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The mother of Michael Brown has announced she's entering the political fray in the St. Louis suburb where her unarmed teenage son was shot dead by police in 2014. In an event organized down the street from where 18-year-old Brown was shot dead by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, Lezley McSpadden told a crowd Friday she's running to become a member of the Ferguson, Mo. City Council. "Almost four years ago to this day, I ran down this very street, and my son was covered in a sheet," McSpadden said, per NBC News. "I learned to walk again, and this is one of my first steps." As KSDK notes, McSpadden's announcement comes at a conspicuous time in the history of a case that helped spark widespread demonstrations against the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police.

Just days earlier, the prosecutor who decided not to file charges against Wilson, sparking outrage, lost his re-election bid after 27 years in office. Bob McCulloch was beaten by criminal justice reform advocate and former judge Wesley Bell. It was McCulloch's first election since Brown's death. Bell is running unopposed in November and some are already calling on him to reopen the case against Wilson. As McSpadden did at Friday's announcement, Bell said following his major win that he hopes positive change can come from the community's anger. “Out of tragedy, comes opportunity,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Michael Browns mother running for city council is the epitome of America. do something.

Freedom Rides Yet Again

Aug 11, 2018 6:05 PM CDT

Dear fellow citizens: My name is Lezley. My son was a thug, bully and a thief. At least he WAS, until he picked on the wrong person and got his sorry butt shot. Anyway, that qualifies me to run for city council, where I can make stupid decisions about running other peoples lives, just like the ones I made when I raised my little criminal.